One year after disappearance, CPJ calls for credible investigation into Tanzanian journalist Azory Gwanda’s fate

One year after freelance journalist Azory Gwanda disappeared in Tanzania, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated its call for a credible investigation and public accounting of his fate. Gwanda, who wrote for the privately owned Mwananchi and The Citizen newspapers, went missing on November 21, 2017. His wife, Anna Pinoni, reported seeing Gwanda leave their farm in Tanzania's Coast region with unidentified men in a white Land Cruiser, according to CPJ research. Gwanda told his wife he was taking an emergency trip, and would return the next day. He has not been seen…Read more

Media sector concerned by South African politician’s threats against journalist

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores South African opposition politician Julius Malema's use of threats and insults against journalists and media outlets covering his party's alleged involvement in an embezzlement scandal, and calls on the authorities to condemn his attempts to intimidate the press. The leader of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), South Africa's second-largest opposition party, Malema has stepped up his threats and invectives in recent weeks. Naming five journalists on 20 November, he urged his supporters to "deal with them decisively" while adding to "never be violent with them." The five journalists named…Read more

Ugandan Unity FM radio station raided, taken off air and journalists arrested

Human Rights Network for Journalists - Uganda Unity FM radio based in Lira remains shut down since 17 November, 2018 when the Lira District Police Commander (DPC) Joel Tubanone stormed the radio station with heavily armed police personnel and military officers, switched off the radio and picked six staff on allegations of inciting violence. On 17 November 2018, at around 3:20 P.M, police arrested six (6) Unity FM journalists and two other clients who were found at the station for business. The arrest was allegedly on the orders of the Resident District Commissioner…Read more

Cameroon’s leading journalist held on trumped up charges since 2016

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Amadou Vamoulké, the former head of state-owned Cameroon Radio & Television (CRTV), who has been held on trumped-up embezzlement charges since July 2016 and is due to appear in court again on 4 December in a trial already postponed 14 times in a row. The prosecution is scheduled on 4 December to submit interim conclusions at the next hearing before the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé, giving the judges an opportunity to decide whether to continue the trial. In the two years and…Read more

Local reporter covering corruption is abducted and beaten to death in Jharkhand, India

Indian authorities should thoroughly investigate the killing of reporter Chandan Tiwari and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Tiwari, a reporter for the Hindi daily Aj, was abducted on October 29, and found badly beaten the following day, according to NDTV. He later died in a hospital, according to reports. Police said the reporter was found injured in a forest about 175 miles from Pathalgada, in Jharkhand. At a press conference today, police identified three people-- Pintu Singh, Jamuna Prasad and Musafir Rana--whom they said are suspected…Read more

Outspoken critic and journalist detained but not yet charged by Cameroonian authorities

Authorities in Cameroon should immediately release or disclose charges against Michel Biem Tong, editor of the privately owned Hurinews website, who was detained on October 23 after being summoned to the State Secretariat for Defense in the capital, Yaoundé, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Prior to his arrest, Tong had published articles criticizing the Cameroonian government's handling of grievances of Anglophone Cameroonians from the western regions of the country in the run-up to presidential elections on October 7, according to a friend of the journalist who spoke to CPJ on condition…Read more

Nigerian soldiers arrest and detain “The Punch” journalist for 2 days

Media Foundation for West Africa (MWFA) Military officers in Nigeria arrested and detained for two days a reporter with ThePunchnewspaper during a swoop on residents of a community in Jos, Plateau State, on October 6, 2018. The reporter, Friday Olokor, who is The Punch's correspondent in Jos, is part of a group of journalists covering the military's peace enforcement operation in the state which has been in the grip of deadly ethnic clashes in recent times and is currently under a curfew. The military are also conducting a search for a retired officer,…Read more

Gunmen in Pakistan kill K2 Times reporter

The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to investigate and promptly bring to justice the killers of journalist Sohail Khan. Khan, a reporter for the Urdu daily K2 Times, was shot dead while driving in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, yesterday, according to multiple newsreports. News reports said that Khan received threats shortly after writing a story about the arrest of an alleged drug dealer named Musarrat Iqbal. Khan had filed an application at the district police office requesting protection on the day that he was killed, Iqbal Khattak, director of…Read more

Derek Ingram Memorial Service

Following the death earlier this year of renowned Commonwealth journalist Derek Ingram, there will be a memorial service at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1AA at 11h30 on Thursday, 8th November,Read more

Journalist Jones Abiri acquitted, awarded damages

This statement was originally published on mfwa.org on 14 September 2018. A Federal High Court in Abuja has awarded 10 million Naira (about US$27,500) in damages to Jones Abiri, describing the journalist's two-year detention without trial as an "outright conviction." Giving his ruling, the judge, Nnamdi Dimgba, rejected as baseless the government's submission that Abiri was detained in the interest of national security. He also questioned the government's refusal to arraign the journalist after taking his statement upon his arrest. Abiri, who is the editor of the Weekly Sources newspaper, was arrested on…Read more